And the nobel goes to...
...Doris Lessing. I have read her book The Grass is Singing which was actually her first book. I don't remember a lot of it though. The Nobel committee thinks The Golden Notebook is her most important work.
New York Times has a featured author page with links to past reviews and essays.
Also a controversy she was involved in some time back, when she asked feminists to "Lay off men!"
This is a nice picture:
6 comments:
I fail to understand the point of this prize. Bolano thought it was usually given to jerks.
why is Lessing such an important writer suddenly? i think she is unreadable.
pamuk....last year....why? he writes arabian nights stories, criticizes his society, lambasts human rights in his country and picks up a prize. is it Rushdie next year?
i am being unreasonable, i know, i know.
I have nothing to say on the topic. My reading list is already packed and I am past that stage when it (the list) used to be guided by these prizes.
i really don't mind when the prize goes to someone who tried really hard to write a lot of interesting things over along period of time. even though i remember throwing 'golden notebook' across no less than seven back yards in san francisco (i did better with gore vidal's "creation" - nine back yards), i did enjoy her earliest works and some of her crazy science fiction stuff ("shikasta", etc ...). to me the prize should be about celebrating writing, and she certainly is someone who writes andw writes and writes
by the way, with Bolano, i really got bored with twenty-somethings writing poetry and having sex. nice to be one of those guys i'm sure, but to read about them endlessly? couldn't go through with it :}
Hi Tom, Thanks, it again goes to show our different expectations from different kinds of writings and our individual tastes.
I entirely agree with what you say about the awards celebrating someone who tried hard and dedicated his/her life to it.
i think she among Saramago & Kertesz have been the best choice in the last twenty years. in contrast to Pamuk or Grass - and don't get me started on this one - and a couple of others Lessing at least has a lifelong big ouevre that encompasses a bit of diversity. I'm with Tom here, I did not like the Golden Notebook either, but the Martha Quest ones (which i think are very good) and a couple of other ones.
I have read her The Grass is Singing which I randomly picked up from my college library. It was a long time ago... I remember liking it but don't remember any other details. Will probably check out her other works.
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